West is the best? Photo by Angela Smith.
By K. Tighe
I arrived on the southern end of Grant Park just in time to catch Kid Sister on day three, Aug. 3, of Lollapalooza. The Chicago local has some major heat behind her - due in no small part to her recently garnered role as Kanye West's protégé. With her mentor headlining on the same stage later tonight, it seemed likely that we'd get at least a cameo during "Pro Nails," but no such luck. What we did get was a gaggle of bikini-laden ladies painted in gold, dancing around the stage.
"Give it up for the golden ladies! I call 'em the Golden Girls, we got them right off of Michigan Avenue, right from Old Navy," said the cute-as-a-button MC.
Decked out in a pseudo-afro, purple dress and golden stilettos with a face full of jewels, Kid Sister looked every inch the superstar, despite her 12:15 p.m. time slot. For "Pro Nails," West was a no-show (word from security is that he wouldn't be arriving until just before his set), but Kid Sis had the audience eating out of her hands, singing along to the chorus, "Got my toes done up / and my fingernails matching," while three funky spandexed dancers gave us a shoe on golden-painted chairs.
"Look at these bitches that brought their own pedicure chairs," the lady of the hour giggled after the song. Dave and P from Chromeo stopped in for a cameo, and the set ended on Kid Sister's other hit, "Switchboard."
The South Stage (officially the AT&T stage, but who cares?) was home to most Chicago locals performing at the fest, Lupe Fiasco yesterday and Kid Sister and Wests today. Not a bad tradition to continue, since folks who had their upbringing in "da Chi" get a great view of the city skyline from on stage, behind a crowd that stretches as far as their now-famous eyes can see. Not a bad summing up of their deserved accomplishments.
Later on the "Home Stage," Chi-Town hero Kanye West gave perhaps the best performance of his career. The entire time, I was waiting breathlessly for Barack Obama to take the stage (this was rumored heavily in the week leading up to the fest), but the presidential nominee never surfaced - likely due to that icky McCain ad comparing him to bobble-headed tabloid sleazes. Still, while you're waiting for Obama, every West song seems like an appropriate introduction for the senator's arrival (except, perhaps, "Gold Digger"), so I was mighty disappointed in that regard.
The set opened with Kanye appearing in front of a glaring sunrise-style amber backlight with "Good Morning." Production amounted to a dialed-down version of his "Glow in the Dark" set, likely because West didn't want to be late for his hometown. The minimal set was made up for with a light show that could be seen from Milwaukee - but the extravagant lumens weren't the only thing high-wattage on the South Stage: every member of the massive audience could practically see how emotional it was for West to be headlining such an enormous event in his hometown. Affectionately referring to his city as "Chi-Town" or "da Chi" throughout the set, hip-hop's biggest name was all about the hometown pride.
The highlight reel goes on for ages, but the strongest showing of the night came shortly after "Put On." As an introduction to "Hey Mama," West dedicated the performance to his deceased mother, "The woman who drove me to this city when I was three and told me 'Baby, this is where we're gonna start our life.'" At one point West cried, "Mama, mama, mama," into the heavens, then promptly regained his composure, asking the audience to "scream for his mama right now," and they did. Loudly.
Other pivotal points during the song came with West crumpling to the stage floor, regaining his composure, and shouting out his boyhood address over and over again, "7915 South Shore Drive." After the emotional showing, came a stampeded of hits, "Flashing Lights," "Homecoming," and "Gold Digger," but nothing that quite compared to "Hey Mama." The set culminated in a version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing."
No need for Kanye to take anything out on his Macbook Air this time around: no one can accuse him of not giving his all this Sunday night.
Other strong showings on Sunday came from Saul Williams, decked out in colored feathers and face paint, he played to an enormous crowd that barely fit onto his sidestage lawn; Girl Talk, who always knows how to start a block party, pulling hundreds of people from the audience onto their tiny stage (you almost could see security hyperventilating); and Mark Ronson, who was underwhelming on his own but packed in the cameos (Rhymefest and Kenna, for starters) with much success.
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